A collection of thoughts, ideas, and opinions independently written by members of the MSU community and curated by MSU Libraries

Part 2 of 2 The Less-Considered Outcome of Gentrification Green & Write’s previous post about gentrification and neighborhood schools highlighted the more common criticism of gentrification and urban areas—as more affluent, mostly white, families move into a lower-cost city neighborhood, low-income families of color are often displaced, finding themselves excluded from the communities that have …

It is long been noted in Green & Write and elsewhere that students of color benefit from having teachers with similar backgrounds. It is also widely documented that while 80% of American teachers are white, only 62% of students share that characteristic. This disparity is even more pronounced in urban areas, where students of …

The Less-Considered Outcome of Gentrification Green & Write’s previous post about gentrification and neighborhood schools highlighted the more common criticism of gentrification and urban areas—as more affluent, mostly white, families move into a lower-cost city neighborhood, low-income families of color are often displaced, finding themselves excluded from the communities that have been their own for …

It’s beginning to feel like Groundhog Day. Teachers in Detroit walked out again en masse on May 2 and 3 to protest the abysmal conditions of most of their school buildings and the apparent lack of political urgency around what to do about district’s long-term funding crisis. This is the second large-scale walkout the Detroit …

Part 1 of 2 For Neighborhood Schools: Two Probable Outcomes of Gentrification Gentrification is rapidly spreading in many of America’s large cities and its relationship with long-time residents and their schools is a complicated one. In this two part series, I will explore some of the common and less common effects of the movement of middle-class, …

Philadelphia’s city council is considering a bill that would increase taxes on sugary drinks in order to fund pre-K programs. According to the mayor, the city will have to go without universal pre-K programs and recreation centers if the bill is not approved. Philadelphia’s school district is perpetually underfunded, which takes a toll on student …

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has, in recent years, been a formidable political presence in the conversation around urban education. The 2012 strike brought with it nostalgia for the widespread support of its organizing efforts in the 1970s, as well as a newfound adherence to its message among its members. The first walkout in 25 …

More Mess in DPS: Principal Kickbacks The federal government uncovered an alleged $1 million kickback scheme that involved 12 Detroit Public School (DPS) principals, a district administrator, and a vendor on Tuesday. For the past 13 years, businessman Norman Shy has reportedly been paying bribes to principals and skimming money off the top of exchanges …

Teacher Shortages in High-Need Areas Inequitable teacher distribution has been a problem in the U.S. since the advent of universal education. Because teachers are free to choose where they work, schools in geographical areas that appear less appealing tend to attract fewer potential educators. Areas with higher poverty rates, in particular, are likely to struggle to find great …

If at First You Don’t Succeed . . . There have been a lot of reform efforts aimed at improving student achievement in urban schools. Over the past twenty years, administrators, policymakers, and philanthropists have tried idea after idea to fix what ails schools in high poverty neighborhoods. Depending on the trend and collective wisdom …

Students and parents in the Oakland Unified School District have a complicated relationship with their superintendent, Antwan Wilson. Wilson has been described as a bold and effective school leader with the district’s best intentions at heart. However, in response to his recently proposed plan to create a single application process for Oakland’s dozens of neighborhood …

Day-to-Day Life with Lead City and school leaders in Flint are dealing with the implications of the discovery of high levels of lead in its water supply. The ongoing crisis is a clear example of the obstacles facing many urban districts in poor areas. While the schools certainly did not cause the water problem, they …

With All Deliberate Speed With the 50th anniversary of the Coleman Report approaching, education researchers might pause to reflect on its findings and the progress our schools have made since its publication in 1967. In a series of articles in Education Next, economist Steven Rivkin details findings from his recent research about segregation in America’s …

Note: It has long been speculated that Detroit Public Schools may transition to a portfolio management school district model. What is a portfolio management district and what does the research say about the effectiveness of this type of model? Check out Green & Write all week for new posts on what we know and what …

Intended to provoke The Detroit Public Schools (DPS) teachers who organized the sick-out protests this month intended to spur a conversation about the deplorable conditions of school buildings, state control of the district, and low teacher salaries. Teachers at 66 out of Detroit’s roughly 100 schools organized absences that shut down schools for several days …

Teachers Share Conditions By now, many of us have seen the abysmal condition into which many Detroit Public School (DPS) buildings have been allowed to deteriorate. Teachers and parents have posted photos to social media sites in an effort to illustrate the magnitude of the problematic conditions in which they work each day. These posts …

Many teachers in Detroit Public Schools (DPS) have had enough. Amidst the budget crisis, enrollment woes, and low achievement scores, educators endure revolting working conditions that have provoked a drastic measure. On January 7, teachers at Renaissance and King High Schools closed due to a, “high volume of teacher absences.” Teachers at other schools soon got …

Turnaround Efforts from 2009 to Today President Obama took on an ambitious experiment in 2009. Using $3 billion in stimulus money, the federal government awarded School Improvement Grants (SIGs) to 5000 of the lowest performing urban schools committed to turning around their poor performance. Upon accepting the grants, schools agreed to adhere to one of …

We Have a Race Problem on College Campuses There has been much conversation about the racial tension on college campuses in recent months. In the wake of the University of Missouri controversy, news outlets, blogs, and social media pages have been alight with opinionated perspectives on the issue. In the context of the recent Supreme …

Trauma in the Spotlight The recent attacks in Paris and Beirut have undoubtedly left many parents and educators struggling to for an explanation that might help students begin to comprehend the horrific events that sometimes befall innocent citizens. Likewise, teachers and families must help children make sense of the Syrian refugee crisis, the Michael Brown …

Racially Motivated Hate Speech on Campus In recent weeks, the media has reported a rash of racist episodes on college campuses. The incidents range from the overt and fear mongering, such as the makeshift noose hung around the neck of the Black former university president James Meredith’s Statue at Ole Miss, to the suggestive and …

Charter School Concentration: Demand in Urban Areas The University of Michigan’s Susan Dynarski recently added her voice to the ongoing conversation around charter schools in America’s urban areas. Rather than comment on the more salient charter controversies around oversight concerns, authorizer policies, or competition with neighborhood schools, Dynarski addressed a less-examined topic: the contrast in …

Partnership between Practitioners, Researchers, and Policymakers Faculty and students at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) held a conference to discuss current issues in urban education on Saturday, November 14th. Often characterized as under resourced and failing, large, urban districts in Michigan have had successes that are frequently overlooked by the general public. The summit highlighted positive …

Since the violent altercation between a white officer and black female student in South Carolina last month, there has been much conversation about discipline and the role of police in America’s public schools. While not a new debate, questions about the disproportionate use of physical force and exclusionary discipline policies against black students in urban …

We may now be seeing a shift in our collective understanding of what a school closing truly means to a community. Earlier this fall residents of Chicago organized a hunger strike to protest the closure of a high school on Chicago’s South Side. The hunger strike was successful as the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) board …

Call for a Moratorium on New Charters In an address to the Michigan Legislature on Thursday, March 5th, Michigan State Superintendent Mike Flanagan called for a moratorium on new charters schools in Michigan, saying, “There’s enough (charters) now to give appropriate choice to parents.” Amidst an ongoing debate about the role of charters in the …